Tamperproof screw closure



May l0, 1949. f n.1.. sPENDER 2,470,057

warm-PROOF scnmw cLosURE lFiled Dec. 6,1945

I' .1. T5-1511 u LEI I l l lnmnuumunmmmnn '1m/mm1@ Donald L .Spenden BY" I Patented May 10, 1949 EiS PAT E NT Y(3 F Fl'f'CiE TAMPERBRD'OF SCREW CLSURE 'Donald L.- Spenden Waterbury, -'Cnnn.,f1assignor 1 to Scovill' Manuf acturinigftomnauy, Waterbury,

yenn., a corporation of onnectcut Application'Decem'ber 6, '1945,v Serial No. 6333099 1 This-invention relates to tamper-proof contain- -ers and particularly' to one that will have a visible virnlication Aas to wliether-or -not "the interiormf -Jthe container vmay have lbeen tampered with in being-shipped fromoneriestination-to another.

One-of the'objects'oftiiisinventionis to provide a container 'and'ac-over having-mutually threaded engagement, and' wherein a 'locking rneans'isidevisedaiter'thecover has-been Kassembledinto-position ITor-'sealing the v'container for Vshipping iand which will necessitatethe breaking 'of the lock-ing means lin lorder that the con-tents of 'the container 'm'ayberemoved A"furtr1er object is to provide -a container-and cover l:member A'havin-g threaded interengagement with each other 'and wherein the locking means is Iso constructed as to;give a visible indication that the cover may have I"been` removed Y before having "reachediits, nalfdestination, giving 4proof that the contents'may 'have Vbeen fraudulently interfered with.

A further object is to provide a container and "cap of*theabove'constructionwhereinone'ormore "rugs-'are provided in the skirt `oi'i'fl're cap'adjacent "its open fend, and initially lying 'in the plane 'of the skirt, and designed -to be 'biased inwardly *therefrom to 'engage permanently in lav `circumv'ereniia-l exterior recess l'i'n" the 'container as a means for klocking :thetwo parts Ctogether.

'Inrnakirigrlosure containers 4of the above -char- "ac'ter, even though the meta-1 may be of'a Yrela- V `tive-ly soft character, suclr as -'alurninum or `light tempered *brass,-"fand where lugs are Lprovided-1in v"the side Walls of one of lthe members, there lis l'always 'the yinherent Ytendency for the k"lugs `to spring back ftowardft'hei'r initial -posi'tionfwheniber'ingbiasefl therefrom, and Vit is 4one of the 'objects 4of my inventioncto'provide-a construction wherein jfit can Abe assured that the'l'ugs, thatv are lto be -bent vagiter-the"assembly of fthe cap-to l"thecontainer `to Veffect the klocking seal, will "be vdisposed in a set "position without-'danger of Ispringing vback and tlesserring v4the locking "eifect.

Eifiththese-'objects 'in View and V'others not ispeciflcally referred to, the invention `consists in the fea-tures,- :combination-'detailsoff Yconstruction and larrangernents'offparts*which-will lrst bedescribed in connection with *the "accompanying `-drawings vand!their-more(particulerly pointed out.

- Fig. *1 isa side elevational 'View offmy container and eapfsh'own Zirran :assembled state.

Fig.'2is"ei-'sectional view y-throug'-h^the cap and the upper end of'lthe-cont-'ainer lshowing them Kas "they 'appear inra'separated-state in a view taken substantially-at rightian'gles'toithe'view of Fig. 1.

fFig. 3 isfa similar. sectionall view .showing :the

--upper endof the containerfand-*the Vcover -as 'they appearf in assembled fstate, thef View being 'maken al-ong the "li-ne 143-43. of Figi.

Fig.4 isan enlargedelevationalview ofthe cap `member showing particularly one l.olf :the .locking lug-elements, and

Fig. 5 `isa View showing three r-fragmentary sectionsof thecover `member illustrating/the vari- -ous stages#offtheiorrnationfofthe locking lug.

'Referring now torti-1e Idrawing r.fw-herein like numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, thermmeral fl 0 vindicates-tiener- Ially -a -c-ylincir-ical container having fthe `usual closed baser-end `and an openupper end; the'flatter adapted to lbel-sealed by asc-rew -c-ap tl. Specii'lcafl-ly the cylindrical container has Aawrcllled 'threaded portion 4122 adjacentitsl upper-fopen end,

-a-nd lther-cap --I'I 'is provided 'with 'a complementary threadlf'S formed in 'itsdepending walll-d. The

`unthreaded portion o'f the cap Il below the threads, Aas appearing Fig. '2, provides for a.

cylindrical 'skirt "I5 from rwhich is out la pair of diametricall-y opposed 'Llockingl-ugs 115. v.As best Vshown in Fig. 4, this 'loeking'lug Hi is spacedyfrom the surrounding,wa-l1y structure -o-nv'three sides/by vain-inverted U-Jshapedrclearaneerslot I1 `to assure `'that the 1lug will 'be -free of-the` surrounding skirt -end of `the jcontainer 4'immediately below the Vithreadedportion 12. "The 'construction of the relcess 270 is 'suchpas to ;provi'de Aa relatively sharp shou-l'der-I 'adjacent itsjupper end and a moreor less tapering'shoulder 22 adjacent its lower end.

-rnaterial or Aarticle 4to be shipped, as 'for .example a vial' iofjliquid; I'this construction is used.,.to as- *sure Ia 'tamper-proof locking sjeal.

After Hplacing the contents in the container 11.1, the vscrew cap H canbethrea'dedly.assembled in the usual manner until a lsealing gasket '23 disposed inthe upper #closed ven'd 'of 'the cap, 'is seated .against the upper edge of the 'container 1l'0 as best shown un Fig." `3. v1'The locking lugs 16 previously mentioned are initially disposed in the circumferenassembled, the position of these lugs IS is such as to line up with the recess 2i] of the container whereupon the lugs I6 may be forced or biased inwardly by any suitable instrument such as a screw driver blade 24 or any other similar instrument wherein the upper edges 25 of the lugs are disposed in close proximity to the sharp shoulder 2I.

While the containers that are used for the purpose, for which the, containers of this particular art are employed, are made of a somewhat soit metal, such as aluminum or relatively soft brass, I have found that there always has been suflcient resiliency in the metal so that there is a tendency for lugs of the character here disclosed to spring back toward their normal position after once being forced manually inwardly as in the Inanner indicated in Fig. 3 so that the full locking effect of the lugs may not be attained. In order to assure that the locking lugs can be set into a permanent locking position without danger of springing back toward their initial state, I have Vunderstood that that is the position that the lugs I 6 assume before the assembly of the cap II to the container I0. Without disturbing the main body portion of the lug I6, I deform outwardly a small portion of the lower end of the lug as at I6' with the twist occurring particularly in the area of the bridge members I8 and I9, this forming being of an angle substantially equal to what the main body of the lug I6 is later to assume when in the locking position.

This preliminary forming is best shown in the middle view of Fig. 5. After the cap II is completely assembled, as shown in Fig. 3, the lug is then finally formed inwardly by the instrument 24, such as a screw driver blade or similar instrument, to be received into the recess 2l), its final locking position being shown in the right hand view of Fig. 5. By this particular construction in biasing the lug I6, as shown in the middle View of Fig. 5, to the right hand view of Fig. 5 there is no danger of the lug springing back to its initial position and disengaging partially from correct locking relationship with the recess 2U and lessening the locking connection between cap and container.

When it is desired, however, for the authorized person to have access to the contents of the container, it is necessary for such person to remove the cover by an unthreading operation and i in so doing the lugs I6 willbe forced out from their biased locked position in an axial direction l and will break one of the weakened bridge members I8 or I9 or both and consequently will break the locking eifect of the lugs I6. If there appears to be any disturbance of the lugs from their locked position such as a broken bridge, before the container may have reached its destination, it gives clear evidence that the cap may have been removed and the contents of the container tampered with by some unauthorized person.

As a further precautionary measure to assurethat some persons with considerable skill might not use a sharp instrument to force the lugs I6 out of the recess 20 in order to remove the cap without any visible indication that the cap has been removed by a broken or disturbed lug, I have provided a circumferential projecting rib 30 of some width immediately below the recess 20. This rib is close enough to the lower edge of the screw cap II when assembled so that it will prevent any sharp instrument being inserted underneath the lugs I6 for reasons as above set forth.

While it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiment of my invention herewith disclosed is well suited to adequately fulll the objects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and changes within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A tamper-proof closure member comprising a container having a cylindrical open end with a threaded section adjacent said open end. a continuous circumferential recess disposed in the outer wall of said container immediately below the threaded section, a threadedV cap member for closing the open end of the container and having a cylindrical skirt section extending beyond its threaded section, and axial locking lug means formed in the skirt section of said cap and initially lying in the plane of said skirt, said lug means having an inverted U-shaped clearance slot circumscribing three of its sides and being connected to said skirt by frangible bridging members adjacent the lower end of said skirt,

said cap member being of relatively inert material such that after assembly to the container said lug means may be manually bent inwardly from its initial position to lie within the area of said container recess at any position that the cap 40 may be threaded to for complete assembly upon said container.

2. A tamper-proof closure member comprising a container having a cylindrical open end with a threaded section adjacent said open end, a continuous circumferential recess disposed in the outer wall of said container immediately below the threaded section, a threaded cap member for closing the open end of the container and having a cylindrical skirt section extending beyond its threaded section, axial locking lug means formed in the skirt section of said cap and initially lying in the plane of said skirt, said lug means having an inverted U-shaped clearance slot circumscribing three of its sides and being connected to said skirt by frangible bridging members adjacent the lower end of said skirt, that portion of said skirt below said lug means and between the connecting bridge members being bent outwardly from the skirt wall and at an angle to the initial position of said lug means, and said lug means upon the complete assembly of said cap to said container being bent inwardly to lie within the area of said container recess.

3. In a cap member for use on a tamper-proof container and having mutually threaded engagement therewith, said cap member having a cylindrical skirt below its threaded section and terminating the open end of said cap, axial lug means provided in said skirt and connected there to by rupturable bridge members adjacent the lower edge of said skirt, said lug means normally lying in the Iplane of said skirt and designed to be later biased inwardly therefrom into locking engagement with said container, that portion of said skirt below said lug means between said bridge members being initially formed outwardly of the plane of said skirt to an angular position substantially equal to that which the lug means is to assume when biased into locking position, said outwardly formed portion of the skirt below said lug means effecting a twist in the area of said bridge members to facilitate the rupturing of the same upon removal of the cap from a container.

DONALD L. SPENDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Chapman Feb. 16, 1904 Teller May '1, 1935 Mermer Jan. 4, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 18, 1931 

